Drinking the Kool-Aid March 2012

Be careful not to drink the Kool-Aid.

A former consulting colleague.

It’s interesting how a word or phrase can be recycled many years later to mean something completely different than it did originally. Take for example the word gay which used to mean merry or artificial which originally meant full of artistic or technical skill or awful which meant full of awe.

I thought the name, adman and product Kool-Aid went out of style a long time ago. The product still exists on the bottom shelf of your grocery store but the concept has morphed in meaning and re-entered our contemporary nomenclature to mean something different. When I was a kid drinking the Kool-Aid simply meant joy and great enthusiasm like the Kool-Aid Man shows above. It was an early, inexpensive, convenience drink. You just needed to add a ton of sugar and water to create a very sweet drink with little or no real nutritional value. By today’s standards, it was probably unhealthy, as it is basically sugar, dyes and chemicals. The last time I came across it was when high school kids used it as a quick and cheap hair dye.

The first time I heard the phrase used in this newer and negative way was during a consulting assignment a number of years ago. I was invited to a cocktail hour with the senior management team of a firm. Dennis (the colleague) had been working with the team clarifying their strategy. I was to begin the change implementation portion of the engagement. As I went through the snack line filling my plate with goodies, Dennis whispered in my ear, “Be careful to not drink the Kool-Aid,” as he pointed to the punch bowl. I gave him a bewildered look but knew that Dennis was up to something interesting given the character he was. A few minutes later, the company CEO addressed the group with a few comments. As he spoke Dennis caught my eye as if to say, “Listen carefully but don’t believe any of it.”As we left, Dennis referred to the CEO’s speech as The Big Lie which was his positive projections of company success that, according to Dennis, were not based in reality. The CEO believed it but was in denial about certain marketplace realities and wanted to sell his senior managers on his vision for the business. The leader was lacking in critical thinking skills and as his executives smiled at him in appreciation for his words, Dennis smiled again, as if to acknowledge that they too lacked critical thinking skills.

"Drinking the Kool-Aid" is a euphemism that refers to a person or group's unquestioning belief in an ideology, argument, or philosophy without critical examination. The phrase typically carries a negative connotation when applied to an individual, group or company. Of course Kool- Aid references go back to November of 1978 when the world was shocked by the suicide deaths of 913 members of the People's Temple cult. Jim Jones, the leader of the group, convinced his followers to move to Jonestown, Guyana, a remote community that Jones carved out of the South American jungle and named after himself. Jones constantly feared losing control of his

© 2012 John Mirocha & Associates, Inc. followers. His paranoia was the main reason he moved the cult to Guyana. The mass suicide occurred after U.S. Rep. Leo Ryan of California and a team of reporters visited the compound to investigate reports of abuse. After some members tried to leave with the congressman's group, Jim Jones had Ryan and his entourage ambushed at the nearby airstrip. He ordered his flock to commit suicide by drinking grape-flavored Kool-Aid laced with potassium cyanide.

The phrase seems to be used more widely today as I have heard students, former colleagues and current associates talking about it. I guess that some companies today want their employees to have an unquestioning loyalty to their company and that is why the phrase has resurfaced. Just last week I heard a former colleague use the phrase. We were catching up over coffee and our conversation wandered into the layoffs at his current company and his concern over his job security and how the layoffs were being implemented. I grew a little cautious about the direction of the conversation and he must have sensed it. He looked me in the eye and said, “John. Don’t worry. We can talk about this subject. I never drank the corporate Kool-Aid.” Karin, a recent student of mine who later said she never used the product, mentioned proudly and openly in class that she never drank the Kool-Aid at her company. A look of disbelief crossed the faces of many students as Karin works for one of the most successful companies in town and is always ranked as one of the top places to work. She went on to explain that her company was working off of the vapor from its prior success rather than reinventing itself as its marketplace required. In an on-site corporate meeting, an employee of another top tier company openly critiqued an element of his company’s corporate culture. An associate of his sitting a few rows behind him was visibly upset at his comment. He retorted, “I think you are being a little hard on our company.” What he said was a little different than what I think he was really implying which was “be careful what you say about the company as I am an employee a few levels above you and you have just done something inappropriate!” Yes. There was an intimidating tone to the comment and the employee did not continue the critique discussion and was reserved during the rest of the meeting. I believe that all three of these comments are an acceptable intellectual activity in an informal conversation with a friend, a graduate course on business and in a corporate meeting as long as the discussion has been deemed confidential and the comments are respectful, within the boundaries of the topic being discussed and not used as a means of personal attack. Loyalty and Critical Thinking. Many readers might be thinking at this point that I am suggesting that employees should be disloyal to their companies by questioning corporate strategies, messages, and culture. Let me make myself perfectly clear on this matter. I think loyalty is a sacred relationship between the corporation and its employees. It may be assumed to start with good faith loyalty and trust in the company and its leaders but it needs to be earned and renewed over time. It is more than blindly following corporate ideologies indefinitely. I think part of being loyal is questioning things that appear false, shallow or are not thought through deeply especially if the sustainability of the entity, be it the company or a person’s job security, is on the line. A company’s culture and leadership ethos must be questioned when employees need a code phrase to articulate that they are being duped, lied to or provided with facts that do not hold up in the light of day. Companies often stumble because they do not create a culture of critical

© 2012 John Mirocha & Associates, Inc. thinking among their employees especially during times when it is mission critical. Rather, they create weak followers afraid of voicing their ideas. Critical thinkers examine assumptions, look beneath the surface of activities to see what is really going on and rely on reality as their rudder. Critical thinking is an antidote to corporate malaise as it sets the focus on the real issues rather that the rhetoric supplied to make the followers believe that all is well. Loyal employees are critical thinkers who are looking out for the best interests of their companies and themselves. Rather than suppress it, corporate leaders should focus on how to develop it into a positive force for renewal, innovation and growth. More senior employees should help their colleagues articulate their views in a respectful manner rather than dampen or suppress the free thinking of their junior colleagues in a misguided attempt to uphold the political correctness of corporate ideologies. Lessons Learned: 1. Listen carefully to the euphemisms employees use to communicate with one another about corporate strategies, culture and messages. 2. If employees substitute a more agreeable or politically correct expression for one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant, you have a problem as the truth (as they see it) cannot be discussed openly without the perception of negative personal consequences. 3. Build a culture of respect, reality and candid conversations that addresses the difficult issues in an authentic and professional manner. 4. Only drink beverages that are bottled and need to be opened and never leave your drink unattended at corporate meetings. 5. I’ll have to save my thoughts on corporate leadership and their pursuit of shiny objects for another story!